The Taiwanese answer to Tesla’s sport electric car, debuted today at the the Frankfurt Auto Show. Dubbed the Thunder Power (awesome, I know – “what do you drive?” “I drive a Thunder Power… is that a Prius I see you’re driving?”).

The Thunder Power sedan was revealed as a rear-drive EV, capable of travelling a minimum of 650 km or 404 miles on a full charge. Powered by a 125 kWh lithium-ion battery unot, buyers will be able to choose between a 230 kW (308 hp) or 320 kW (430 hp) version. For comparison sake, the Tesla Model S 70D makes use of a 70 kWh battery putting out the equivalent of 329 hp – it’s rated at 386 km or 240 miles.

As far as performance goes, the Thunder Power sedan in 320 kWh form will do the 0-100 km/h run in less than five seconds and has a top speed of 250 km/h or 155 mph. Thunder Power claims the sedan can be fully charged in six hours with a standard charge system and can be fully charged in one hour with the fast charge – the equivalent to Tesla’s supercharge system.

Reviews in the office are mixed on the Thunder Power’s looks. The Thunder Power sedan design comes to us from Zagato, the very same Italian deign house that’s famous for its work with the likes of Aston Martin. I’m not sure how I feel about the front end of the Thunder power sedan. From the pictures, it looks unfinished and blank to me. There doesn’t seem to be any definition to the front end at all, beyond the unique looking swirl grille.

The interior is what you would expect from an all electric car – chock full of digital readouts with nary a physical knob in sight. We’ll reserve any judgement until we can play with one in person.

Thunder Power claims the sedan chassis is a flexible design and the platform can be adapted into SUV, compact car, crossover and compact crossover versions. This forward type of thinking is the same type of innovation that the major manufacturers are headed towards.

The Thunder Power range of vehicles is slated to go on sale in Europe in 2017 and china in 2018 with pricing yet to be announced – no word on North American launches as of yet.

As an alternative to the regular retail pedestrian sedan, Thunder Power also showed off an AWD race variant, which looked a hell of a lot cooler, equipped with aggressive wheels, an aggressive bodykit, big brakes, stance and a matching spoiler. This opens the door to a potential future in racing for Thunder Power.

Combining his passion for all things automotive, stunning photography, and the burning desire to share a good story laced with pop-culture references and humour, Ronnie has found his calling as a "do-it-all" in the auto industry. 2 or 4 wheels makes no difference to him. If it shifts, it drifts. In his spare time, you can find him playing music that's too loud with his band, travelling, waxing poetic about his time at Hogwarts, or at your local racetrack.